Royalton Community Radio https://www.royaltonradio.org WFVR-LP Thu, 05 Nov 2026 17:18:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://www.royaltonradio.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/cropped-Royalton-Community-Radio-32x32.png Royalton Community Radio https://www.royaltonradio.org 32 32 Green Zine Notes and Links https://www.royaltonradio.org/green-zine-notes-and-links/ Thu, 09 Apr 2026 16:46:08 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=11358 Show Notes: 11/5 Bird Note: Soil workers. The lyrebird Today from yesterday’s compost microscopic evaluation workshop. First: Nathasha Durant of Composting Association of Vermont. Why compost?​ first clip run on into second clip See CAV resources here. Second: Jay Herbert Holistic Agronomist with the Vermont Compost company.. the plastic contamination question ask at the compost microscopy event ​ then an interview…

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Show Notes: 11/5
Bird Note: Soil workers. The lyrebird
Today from yesterday’s compost microscopic evaluation workshop.
First: Nathasha Durant of Composting Association of Vermont.
Why compost?​ first clip run on into second clip
See CAV resources here.
Second: Jay Herbert Holistic Agronomist with the Vermont Compost company..
the plastic contamination question ask at the compost microscopy event
​LAND AND DEMOCRACY See this recent local meeting and movement. Soil,Food, Livability, Justice and more.
Upcoming films Rochester:
Show Notes: 10/29
Show Notes: 10/22
Bird note: Evolution made its structural changes in the Woodcock
This week we will be talking- MAKING STRUCTURAL CHANGES
Last week’s GZ show Volts covered the Volts pod on the importance of making structural change. It finished with “be sure to VOTE“.
Vermont Public radio and TV offers an excellent guide for who is on the ballot ,just plug in your address, and all of  the previous debates.
This week our Guest: Ben Falk will unpack his recent Vermont Digger opinion piece on making land policy encourage small scale innovation rather than  only recognising large business as usual​ approaches.
Also on previous shows we also had Jared Deval of Energy Action Network talking about structural changes from the recent EAN conference. Individual sections of this conference are now up on video recording. Lots of good stuff(:-
​Further consideration for structural change: Public Banking. we covered it on GZ  on 7/22
There are bi-weekly conference calls about our doing public banking.
A ​national conference is in progress today through Saturday.
Show Notes: 10/15
Bird Note: Pushed up and off the mountain top.
Guest: Rachel Westrate, VLS professor to lead us through the  Boulder Colorado Suit against refiners Exson and Suncor now at the supreme court.
OF NOTE: Happy times are coming Volts Pod The internet of energy
100 times more efficient and bottom up instead of top down as the grid currently is.
I remember in 1980my 4 business phone lines cost app $1,600/mo.  I paid for the minutes that a call was using the dedicated pair of copper wires from our office to a customer, somewhat like electricity delivery now. Along came the internet protocol that allows shared use of a beb of connections making a giant increase in efficiency and a 100 times drop in costs.
Now the creator of the internet protocol, Jonas Birgersson, is spearheading a protocol of energy to allow all things energy to talk to each other both in house and across the energy grid. This will be much like the information internet. Just like now your phone can talk to your TV and your computer can email or text around the country, the Internet of energy will talk across devices. This will create the same increase in efficiency-utilization that took place when the Internet protocol was borne. Charges will be for the service rather than by energy bought or sold. It can start in your own home and connect in ever larger circles and the connection will be both directions… energy in energy out. This proves to be a game changer.  
Show Notes: 10/8
Bird Note: A Whimberl’s Wayward Journey
No Guest but we have two recordings that dovetail together.
The first says make structura change instead of peasemeal. It is from a live conversation in Seattle between Volt’s David Roberts and long term environmental champion and author OF THE CARBON WAVE Leah Stokes.
The second says consider the loss of human intelligence and purpose if we embrace Agentic AI.
Show Notes: 10/1
Bird Note: Whale birds
Guest: Jared Duval the head of the Energy Action Network We answer these questions:
– How does energy fit into the broader affordability conversation?
– How do energy costs in Vermont compare with neighboring states?
– What is happening with energy costs right now? Why do you say the energy affordability conversation is often missing the bigger picture?
– You say that our greatest pollution reduction opportunities are also our greatest cost reduction opportunities. That, rather than cutting costs and cutting pollution being goals that are at odds with each other, they can actually be the very same strategies. Can you explain?
 Upcoming online event: From New York to Antalya: What Happens Between Climate Week and COP31?  Wednesday, October 7  •  1 PM – 2:15 PM EDT Free Event regester

 

Show Notes: 9/24
Review:The Energy Action Network conference yesterday.
The 2026 Annual Progress Report We are not meeting our targets
Transportation is our top emitter: Video by Bob the Green guy
Guest: Peter Walke Managing Director of Efficiency Vermont. How to get the system running right. (24Min)
Break out group A discussion about  how to generate funding for efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions
Upcoming events: Royltown strategic energy solution Monday the 28th 5:30-6:30 Oaks Hall. Free food. Come learn and discuss.
Show Notes 9/17
Following: The Nancy Grace Roman telescope seeing dim planets against their bright star’s glare 1:46 play it
Guest: Jason Mozuroskie head ecologist for the Northeast Wilderness Trust.  We will focus on the ecological benefits as forests get older and more connected.
A preserv to visit: https://newildernesstrust.org/projects/woodbury-mountain-wilderness-preserve/
More info:  Allowing the power of natural systems to green the deserts of Africa: Agroforestry in the Sahel reversing desertification #agroforestry #sahel #desertification
Events: EAN 2026 Annual Network Summit

Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at the Farmhouse at the Essex Resort

REGISTER NOW

 

Draft Agenda

8-9 AM Light Breakfast and Networking
9:00 AM Welcome and Orientation to the Summit

Cara Robechek | EAN Deputy Director & Network Manager
9:15 AM Unveiling of EAN’s 2026 Annual Progress Report Key Findings + Q&A

Jared Duval | EAN Executive Director

Luke Miller | EAN Data Manager & Research Analyst
10:15 AM Morning Break
10:30 AM Powering progress: Energy leadership and innovation in this moment: a view from Vermont utilities and energy service providers

Shelley Navari | Energy Coop of Vermont, General Manager

Josh Castonguay | Green Mountain Power, VP Chief Innovation Officer

Darren Springer | Burlington Electric Dept, General Manager

Peter Walke | Efficiency Vermont, Managing Director
11:40 Leigh Seddon Award

Anne and Arthur Berndt Award
noon Lunch
12:45 PM Presentations Round 1
Energy and Housing: Sarah Phillips | Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, Housing Director

AI in Vermont’s Economy | Neale Lunderville | Vermont AI Economic Task Force, Chair

Climate Workforce | Will Schwartz | Efficiency Vermont, Workforce Development Manager || Rowan Hawthorne | VT Department of Labor Office of Workforce Strategy and Development, Interim Director

EV Market Update – Dave Roberts | Drive Electric Vermont, Coordinator

Heat Pump Installation and Use | Kelly Lucci | Efficiency Vermont, Director of Strategy and Partnerships || Richard Cowart | Regulatory Assistance Project, Principal
1:30 PM Table conversations and report out
2:10 PM Afternoon Break
2:30 PM Presentations Round 2
Energy Navigation | Mike Roy | Climate Economy Action Center of Addison County, Board of Directors

Municipal Energy Code Collaborative | Zack Tyler | Energy Future Group, Managing Consultant

Thermal Energy Networks | TBD | Vermont Community Thermal Networks

Policy and Revenue Options to Support Equitable Access to Electric Vehicles in Vermont | Hannah Dreissigacker | Vermont Law and Graduate School, Master’s Student

The Future of Residential Weatherization in Vermont | Richard Faesy | Energy Future Group, Principal Emeritus || Richard Cowart | Regulatory Assistance Project, Principal

Durable GHG Reduction Programs Built upon Virtuous Circle Funding and Investing | Christopher Bray | Vermont Law and Graduate School, Master’s Student
3:15 PM Table conversations and report out
3:55 PM Recap of the Day:  Looking Back and Looking Forward

Jared Duval | EAN Executive Director
4 – 6 PM Reception 
Two corrections from previous shows. Roman will be in the sun at Lagrange 2  Roman operates 137 degrees warmer than Webb so does not need the same level of heat shielding. Two- insects have many challenges not just lack of dew. Homeowners use more sides than the whole agriculture sector.
From Chat gtp:

The biggest causes

  1. Habitat loss and simplification
    • Fields that once contained dozens of wild plant species have become lawns, cropland, or heavily managed pasture.
    • Hedgerows, wetlands, dead wood, and unmowed edges have disappeared.
    • Insects often need very specific plants for their larvae, so losing even one plant species can eliminate an insect locally.
  2. Pesticides
    • This includes much more than the old broad-spectrum insecticides.
    • Neonicotinoids, for example, can occur in pollen, nectar, soil, and plant tissues and can affect bees and other insects at relatively low exposures.
    • Herbicides matter too: eliminating “weeds” eliminates food and habitat for insects.
  3. Climate change
    • Warmer temperatures are shifting insect ranges and seasonal timing.
    • A particularly serious problem is mismatching schedules: an insect may emerge when the plant it depends on is no longer flowering, or a bird may need caterpillars before caterpillars are abundant.
    • Extreme heat, drought, flooding, and unusually warm winters can also cause substantial mortality.
  4. Light pollution
    • Artificial nighttime light disrupts moths and other nocturnal insects, interfering with feeding, mating, and navigation.
    • This is an especially underappreciated factor.
  5. Pollution
    • Air pollution can interfere with the chemical signals plants use to attract insects.
    • Water pollution and fertilizer runoff damage aquatic insects and the ecosystems that support them.
  6. Agriculture and lawn culture
    • Large monocultures provide food for a few specialized insects but very little habitat for the broader insect community.
    • Closely mowed lawns are essentially biological deserts compared with a meadow.
Bird Note: Truffles anyone
Last week George White told us about really efficient houses this week we will look at funding it.
Guest: Tim Smith from Capstone Community Development. We will find the many ways to achieve the funds to tighten up a dwelling, from free to low interest… Renters too.
https://capstonevt.org/home-weatherization (Orange county +)
https://www.findhelp.org/provider/southeastern-vermont-community-action-(sevca)–westminster-vt/5252603107737600?postal=05091
Podcast Series: The first two of a powerful ongoing series with Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Bill Mckibben How does change happen and politicians talking about fixing the climate will force the press to cover it as well
Show Notes 9/3
Guest: George White- building and retrofitting for energy efficient houses
Science News: The Nancy Grace Roman telescope is now in space.  It is a remarkable project not only for the questions it is tempting to answer but the way the science is being catalyzed  to make it ever more powerful.

Details on Roman Telescope:

First we had Hubble which is said to have unlocked more advances in science than any project ever undertaken. It was very good at looking at small patches of sky one at a time.

Then we had the James Webb telescope that was able to detect very faint light allowing looking back into the early universe. it could see into the infrared which penetrated dust clouds allowing a view of early star and galaxy formation.

Now we have The Nancy Grace Roman telescope Making it way to the Lagrange 2 point in the shadow of the earth. This will, like Webb, allow it to stay very cold so it can view objects that have moved away from us causing red shift into the deep infrared. Roman has a mirror similar in size to Hubble but it looks at a broad field of view, 100 times what Hubble sees at one time. And it can move to another field of view 1000 times faster than Hubble. This is a survey instrument to identify all the stars and galaxies in the universe so we can see what is grouped together and what is being separated. It is trying to answer the questions what is dark energy and dark matter which together  make up more than 95% of the universe and we do not even know what they are or how they work.  The survey will build a map that may give us answers. Additionally The survey will detect planets around distant stars and help understand what proportion is likely to have water and a temperature conducive for life. It will take a month to reach Lagrange point two app 4 times further away from us than the moon. Then it will take app 3 more months to unfold and calibrate all of its instruments. Once set up the observations will begin and torrents of data will be available to all on day one. The whole world from high school students to top astronomers will have access to it. The raw data will be difficult to read but the world is encouraged to form teams working on that data and make it ever more useful to all. That is the planned magic for excoriating discovery.

Links More on Roman: AstroKobi. video

Show Notes 8/27

Bird Note: Looking after the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Topic: The management of our environment to maximise quality of life  for future generations.

Guest: Earl Hatley, the campaign to grant the Ottauquechee River personhood. Here is some background on the process.

Also what has happened with water in the droughted sail. Watch

And another take on shaping the future see Sophie Howe, (The minister of the future for Wailes) whom we covered two years ago.
Show Notes 8/20

Bird Note: The birds connection to your thermostat

First on deck: Making better use of what we have. The man who farmed the rain.

Second: What can be the costs of AI beyond data center’s fuel bill? From Wired.

Third: Bernie Sanders Open Letter to AI  from the Guardian

‘pause AI development’ in interest of humanity

Progressive US senator urges Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic to ‘stop building machines that humans cannot control’

Next week our guest will be Earl Hatley To talk about declaring personhood to the White River

Lots of upcoming event and infohere from VECAN:

Dear Henry, 

Summer is winding down, the primary season is now in the rearview, and Vermonters are beginning to look ahead to fall…and before too long, another Vermont winter. With fossil fuel prices still sky high and household energy costs putting extreme pressure on family budgets, now’s the time to talk with your community about weatherizing, electrifying, and making upgrades to their homes. 

With a packed lineup of energy fairs, regional gatherings, conferences, and webinars ahead, there are lots of opportunities to connect, learn, and get more involved this fall. See below for more information and timely updates, and please message if you would like to see your event promoted in this newsletter!

IN THE NEWS

The end of federal clean energy tax credits doesn’t mean that adopting clean energy no longer makes financial sense, far from it. A new analysis from RMI found that solar, EVs, and other residential clean energy technologies can still deliver meaningful household cost savings while driving emission reductions. Of interest, the researchers cite Vermont’s strong net metering policy for the significant savings it has delivered to participants. 

Additionally, despite the loss of federal incentives, home battery installations are soaring across the country. Homeowners installed a record 673 megawatts of residential battery storage in the first quarter of 2026. High and rising utility bills, paired with supportive state policies, are helping drive demand for batteries, which can be paired with solar to reduce reliance on the grid.

Gas prices remain high, and that can make the financial case for going electric even stronger. Analysis has shown that EV drivers who switch from a gas-powered vehicle to an EV could save an average of $1,805 per year on fuel and maintenance, with savings exceeding $3,000 annually for higher-mileage drivers.

Hop on Coltura’s EV Savings Calculator to see how much you could save based on your own driving habits.

We’ve been hearing for decades that solar development poses a threat to farmland, but recent research tells a different story. Solar covers just about 0.07% of U.S farmland, and farming is increasingly happening alongside solar installations (i.e. agrivoltaics). 

That means installing solar can be a real boost for farmers. A recent Cornell study found that the overwhelming majority of farmers receiving solar lease payments used that income to continue or even expand farming, rather than leave agriculture: farmers who signed large-scale solar leases were three times more likely to say they would use that income to invest in their farms than to reduce their operations, while nearly half said they planned to make no changes to their agricultural practices.

The U.S has tapped less than 1% of its geothermal resources, but that’s changing fast. Next-generation geothermal could provide hundreds of gigawatts of clean, around-the-clock electricity, but developers face significant economic and permitting challenges. Fortunately, states across the political aisle are beginning to step in with direct investment and permitting reforms to help get promising projects off the ground.

Gov. Phil Scott recently announced the members of Vermont’s new AI Economic Task Force, which will explore how the rapidly developing technology could affect Vermont’s economy and communities. As AI increasingly dominates the digital sphere – and people’s lives, livelihoods and ways of living – digging deeply into what this new era means, what’s at stake, and what we can do to adjust will be important. To slow the meteoric rise of AI and to understand its impacts, Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling on major tech companies to pause AI development amid concerns about its pace and potential impacts.

RESOURCES & INFO

What’s the Deal with Plug-In Solar?

We’ve heard from quite a few energy leaders who are really excited about plug-in solar and curious to learn more. We’re excited too! We put together a quick summary on what it is, how it works, and the barriers that still exist before we can bring this new technology to Vermont homes. There’s an important caveat worth reiterating here: at this time, there are no fully compliant plug-in solar kits available for purchase that meet all of Vermont’s safety  requirements. 

More to come. Stay tuned for details on an upcoming plug-in solar webinar! And, in the meantime, please continue directing any questions about plug-in solar to info@vecan.org or to Ford at fyoung@vnrc.org. 

Updates to EAN’s Vermont Energy Dashboard

The EAN Vermont Energy Dashboard has just been updated with 2025 data. The Dashboard tracks progress toward key clean energy technologies identified in Vermont’s 2021 Climate Action Plan, including electric vehicles, cold-climate heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and home weatherization.

The interactive tool lets you explore adoption over time and see how your town, county, or Regional Planning Commission compares. Explore the Dashboard to see how much progress your community has made!

Healthy, Affordable Homes for All

The Building Electrification Institute (BEI) has released a new framework, Healthy Affordable Homes for All, exploring how housing and climate solutions can work together to make homes healthier, more affordable, resilient, and fossil-fuel free. The framework looks at ways communities can advance building electrification while also addressing housing affordability, energy burden, public health, and economic opportunity. It’s available as a slide-based or full report on their website.

Build Your Organization’s Capacity with Capacity for Conservation

The Conservation Capacity Project is now offering free, expert support for U.S.-based conservation nonprofits and Tribes. Get one-on-one coaching in areas like fundraising, financial management, HR, cybersecurity, leadership, and organizational strategy, plus free webinars, tipsheets, and other resources.

Community Resources from Efficiency Vermont

Efficiency Vermont (EVT) launched an updated webpage of community resources designed for municipalities, volunteers, and local organizations working to advance energy efficiency. The new resources include outreach materials, planning tools, educational resources, and other materials to help support local energy efforts. You can sign up for their community partner newsletters and dive into the new resources on EVT’s website! 

Create Climate Factsheets Tailored to Your Community

Climate change conversations can look very different depending on where people live. The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication’s Factsheets tool helps communities move beyond national averages by providing local information about climate beliefs, risk perceptions, and policy preferences.

The customizable tool allows users to create factsheets for all 50 states, congressional districts, and counties across the country. This resource can help local energy committees, municipalities, and community organizations better understand how their neighbors view climate change and support more informed conversations about local climate action.

Whether you are preparing a presentation, planning an outreach event, or looking for new ways to engage your community, these factsheets provide a useful snapshot of local perspectives.

EVENTS

South Burlington’s Green Community Festival 

Join the South Burlington community for food trucks, live music, fun activities, raffle prizes, and more at the South Burlington Green Community Festival on Saturday, September 19th from 11am to 3pm at South Burlington City Hall. (rain date is Sunday, September 20) You can learn about energy efficiency, sustainability, and the environment from local nonprofits and businesses.  There will be experts on hand  to answer your questions about bike commuting, solar, heat pumps, energy upgrades, gardening, and more. There will be E-bike and other demos, plus lots of kids activities including, bounce house, Champ, and face painting! Free parking is available, including valet parking for bicycles. See you there!

Registration is Open for Energy Action Network’s 2026 Annual Summit

Save the date for September 23, 2026 in Essex, Vermont. Join EAN members and partners from across Vermont to learn about the latest data and analysis on energy affordability and Vermont’s energy and climate commitments, hear from energy leaders from Vermont and beyond sharing new ideas, and connect with other energy leaders from around the state.

The day will feature the latest research and insights on Vermont’s energy landscape, conversations with leaders working on innovative solutions, and opportunities to connect, collaborate, and share ideas with others working toward a cleaner, more affordable, and more resilient energy future.

The day will feature:

Keynote Panel: Powering Progress: Energy leadership and innovation – a view from Vermont utilities and energy service providers with speakers:
  • Mari McClure | Green Mountain Power, CEO
  • Darren Springer | Burlington Electric Department, General Manager
  • Peter Walke | Efficiency Vermont, Managing Director
  • Shelley Navari | Energy Co-op of Vermont, General Manager

More details about speakers and the agenda will be available later on. Registration is now open, with early bird pricing available through August 24. Learn more and register. 

Registration is Open for Efficiency Vermont’s 2026 Best Practices Exchange

Efficiency Vermont is pleased to announce that the 2026 Best Practices Exchange (BPX) will once again be held in-person on September 23rd & 24th at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel in Killington, Vermont. You can register for the event here. 

At BPX, C&I facility managers, decision makers, experienced mechanical contractors, and relevant product manufacturers join Efficiency Vermont’s Account Management and Energy Consultant teams to share industry best practices, connect with peers, and explore new approaches to improving energy performance.

The 2026 event will feature keynote speaker Jed Davis, Vice President of Strategic Engagement & Sustainability at Agri-Mark/Cabot Creamery, along with sessions focused on energy leadership in manufacturing, campus-wide energy improvements, refrigeration strategies, cost management, and emerging technologies.

For more information and registration details, visit Efficiency Vermont’s BPX webpage.

Registration is Open for VCRD’s 2026 Community Leadership Summit

On October 6th, join hundreds of community builders from across the state for the Vermont Council on Rural Development’s annual Leadership Summit — a full day of connection, learning, and inspiration for anyone working to strengthen their town.

Whether you’re a longtime local leader or someone just beginning to get involved, you’ll find space to learn, share, and gather ideas you can bring home to your community. All people who care about their community and the future of our state are encouraged to attend! Registration is open, and you can find it here. Registration starts at $75, with $50 and $25 tiered options to keep the event accessible to all. If cost is a barrier, reach out to Margaret at info@vtrural.org to request a scholarship.

Thank you for all you do!

Ford Young, Climate Action Coordinator 
Show Notes 8/13

Today we unpack WHAT MAKES NATIONS GREAT.

Abundant Energy and the ability to grow Food

The USA is blessed with a disproportional abundance of both.

We will start the abundant energy and where we get it from:

Fossil and now from the sun. Hear Bill Mckibben’s latests, The Crucial Years at the halfway point and whether we will make it. Also Take Five and on YouTube

Now on with good soils for growing food. Her is the beginning of an hour plus interview from the cofounder of the Real Organic product and James Cassidy of Oregon. 0-9:53

We finish with takeaways from solarfest. You will have to wait for UL rule making for plug and play solar. +++

Show Notes: 8/6
Bird Note: The Amazing world of owls
Today’s main subject: A follow up on yesterday’s state banking conference. Clip from  Esme Cole VT House Windsor 6
Bright lights in our energy future: Batteries drive the low cost energy future. Their costs keep going down and new technologies are accelerating their usefulness. Now printed batteries and What happens when you invent a new anode
Show Notes: 7/29
Bird Note: Crossbills “Make hay while the sun shines”
First guest: A taste of solar fest DO IT YOURSELF SOLAR and more.
For your calendar: August 8
FREE day of workshops, Brandon VT solarfest.org/,  The schedule
https://www.gigawattinc.com/solar-panel-kits
Second Guest: JennifirBrian or the White River Conservation District to talk about the upcoming conference on establishing a state bank .
Show Notes 7/23
Bird Note: Take Time to Enjoy Nature Birds and humans alike us the sun.
Guest: Plug in Solar, Rupert Mayer, Co-Founder and Technical Director brightsaver.org Who led the charge in the USA
To Put on your calendar: VT Public Banking Congress Aug 4-5:

hosted by the White River Natural Resources Conservation District, featuring special guest Don Morgan, current President of the Bank of North Dakota.

Over two days, farmers, legislators, economists, financial professionals, conservation leaders, and community members will come together to explore how public banking has supported agriculture, disaster recovery, housing, infrastructure, and local economic development—and what lessons Vermont might draw from North Dakota’s century of experience.

The Congress will include a farm resiliency tour, farmer dinner, keynote presentations, panel discussions, and collaborative working sessions at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

I hope you’ll join us for this unique opportunity to learn, exchange ideas, and be part of the conversation.

Registration and the draft agenda are available here:

Show Notes: 7/16
Bird Note: The Surprising Secret of Hummingbird’s tongue
Guest: Rebecca Dalgin of VT 350: The whys and wherefores of PEAKBUSTING 
or if that does not work try this
What VT350 is up to: Mid term report
More good stuff: Volts interviews with the state senator from Hawaii who is leading the charge on making the transition to everything electric. Change happens from the local level up, not the top down.
Show Notes: 7/9
Bird note: Mangroves and birds
From Katherine Hayhoe Talking Climate we see the value of Mangrove. from being the nurseries of the oceans to their role as carbon sinks.
Our subject today will look at bad news triggering good news. Economics plays a big role.
Bill Mckibben’s newest weekly newsletter Points out the uncertainty and high cost of fossil fuel is driving the world to renewables. It also points out that:

+If you still think of it as “alternative energy,” high time to update your priors. The indefatigable Mark Gongloff chronicles the sheer size of the green economy

A recent report from the London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSEG) found that “green economy” companies, or those that derive a significant portion of their revenue from stuff like clean energy, efficiency and water management, now have a total stock market value of $10 trillion. If this were a standalone sector, it would be bigger than healthcare and third in the world only to technology and industrials.

Since 2008, valuations for these companies have grown by 18% a year, compared with 12% for the broader market, the report found. Their stocks have outperformed global equities by 133%. A representative sample of these companies, the FTSE Environmental Opportunities All Share Index, topped the FTSE Global All-Cap Index by 12% last year.

In fact, this stealth sector just had one of its best years on record despite many of the world’s governments and the corporate sector abandoning their pre-Trump pledges to zero out carbon emissions to stave off the worst of global heating. Green revenues grew 5.3% last year, the fastest since 2022, the year of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Evidence keeps mounting that the green economy has entered a new phase, one where its rapidly improving economics give it lasting immunity from fickle political sentiments. Even as the dreams of the 2015 Paris Agreement, net zero, the IRA and more have crumbled, the technology with the power to make some of those dreams come true has only gained momentum.

“What the LSEG data shows us is that the green economy’s resilience is no longer dependent on politics,” Matthew Roling, founding executive director of the Abrams Climate Academy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, said in a statement. “Energy security, grid reliability and supply chain security are now the primary drivers. Those are arguments that resonate in boardrooms. That’s a materially more durable foundation than the Paris Agreement consensus ever was.”

From UC Davis in 2024 puts the total societal cost of emitting a ton of CO2 into the environment at $280 up from the previously accepted $100/ton. Now let’s consider the amount of CO2 emitted through the clearing of one hectare of Amazonian rain forest. According to Climate Action Now it, once oxidised, releases 550 tons of CO2.  $280 X  550= $154,000. And for $2/hector you can lock up the Amazon rainforest through Climate Action Now.
Also for Climate Action Now you can pay to plant Mangroves.
Want just good news without demand? Sign up for YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF CLIMATE HOPE. This week we here about 12 different positive stories: let’s explore some of these.
Canary Media: Cracking the building code, energy efficient houses through factory built techniques.
Show Notes: 7/2
Bird Note:The Link Between Whales, Seabirds, and a Tiny Fish- threatened by climate
Guest: Brett Walter Ceo and Founder of Climate Action Now  We will explore what makes change happen and how you can get involved. And they have an app if you like.
Also see their news letter from Sam Motey
And: Your weekly dose of Climate Hope
Avoid heavy draws on the power system between 5-8 this evening and tomorrow. See Peak demand is responsible for 10-20% of our power bill.
Show Notes: 6/25
We will listen to Sophie Howe, the minister of the future for Wales. The only country with a plan for the future. Watch this presentation tho UVM’s Gund institute.

Friday Evening in Rochester there is a free steak dinner (5PM) and a pasture walk, an opportunity to here from leaders in improving Vermont’s resilience through soil management and a chance to brainstorm together. Speakers are:

  • Abe Collins, Land Care Cooperative and LandWEB
  • John Rodgers,  VT Lieutenant Governor and Farmer
  • Linda Prokopy,  UVM Dean of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Register here.

Show Notes: 6/18
Bird note: Crains and humans coexistence
Guest: Chelsea Scudder, head of Vermont Power and Light. We will talk about their work and how societal shifts happen.
Note: In the latest VOLTS pod UK energy minister quotes her mother after the arab oil embargo “I will never gain depend on oil”
Who is governor is important: This is the 6/17 Democratic gubernatorial candidate debate
Show Notes: 6/11
Bird Note: Flower bombs
 Envision your ideal world and talk about it: Talking Climate with Katharine Hayhoe: 7min
Even red states are going solar and more: Renewables have overtaken COAL even with Trump’s hard court press on coal. no listening
Equity and Justice: NYT  article on a Minneapolis restaurant who stop charging for food and still showed a profit 11:20 if we listen. AI voice but sounds good.
Volts 6/10 pod: A deep dive into the structural problems with data centers turning off to protect themselves from grid variations, a problem data centers will have to become partners in solving. Also the immense benefit to the grid if data centers would ramp down and up in a way that would increase the grid’s capacitie.
Show Nots 6/4
Today we will investigate the power of natural systems and what supercharges them: (25 minuets)
Bird Note: Foraging on tree bark
Nature’s self regulating:
The Emerald Ash Borer:  $12.5 Billion spent combating them without success and then nature took over. woodpeckers, nuthatches chickadees together with a parasitic wasp did the trick for free. See  Listen from 0:00-2:44 and then on to 20:34-21:34.
Put natural systems on steroids?
Renowned Australian plant and soil scientist Christien Jones lays it out in a lecture on Just how much N,P,K fertiliser do we need to add for farm profitability.  That Diversity is the key. (Start at 6:15 and end at 10:55.)
Here is another example of putting nature on steroids from NPR: Growing a 100 year old forest in just 15 or 20 years. 7 min 22 seconds
Hope for massive adoption of solar due to plug and play coming in Vermont next year and in process in 34 other states. During this deep dive into making the grid efficient and self adjusting we hear James McGinnis, CEO of David Energy and co-founder of the DER (distributed energy resource) Task Force community and podcast say “Imagen how fast cellphone adoption would have been if each new user had to go through the regulatory process required for rooftop solar?”
Show Notes 5/28
Bird Notes: Highways-birds-poetry
Possible? Include a word from Dan of extinction rebellion, 2022 Standing Trees rally 4min 20. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OxGX7_btmmnaiPfbRP10mdGV1n_QR182/view?usp=sharing
Guest: Tegan Murray of the Rochester Climate Initiative and a solar installer to boot. We will be highlighting the Climate Future Film Festival.It is FEE at the Hub building in Rochester this Sunday the 31st from 2 till 4. It is free. 10 short films with moderated discussion.
Dan of Extinction Rebellion, 2022 Standing Trees rally, telling us just how bad loss of species is.
Merlyn grants .org Fund climate projects for ages 10-30
Activities: 
iNaturalist Vermont wrote a new post
 Join Global Butterfly Week (May 30 to June 7, 2026) and collect data for the Vermont Butterfly Atlas too!

Mark your calendars. The first ever Global Butterfly Week will take place from May 30 to June 7, 2026, uniting individuals and organizations across every continent in a shared effort to observe and record butterflies. In collaboration across the globe, this first edition of Global Butterfly Week invites everyone to step outside in nature, your local park or even your garden, look carefully for butterflies, and report what they find to their participatory science platform of choice.

From LocalMotion VT: 

Be a part of the conversation! Join us for an informal virtual discussion on e-motos, Tuesday, June 9th at 9:30 AM.

 

Show Notes 5/21
Bird Note: Morning Doves 
Guest: David Roberts of drive electric Vermont: Home and on the road charging, overcoming range anxiety, joining the EV community
Weeley Anthropocene: last year renewables installed out-passed all increase in world wide demand and coal and fossil fuel usage actually did a slight decline.

The Big Picture

As electrotech adoption accelerates worldwide due to the manifold stupidities of the Iran War fossil fuel crisis, new data is underscoring how profound and far-reaching the global clean electrification shift has already become! Our World in Data has a great new visualization of Ember’s recent report that fossil fuel use for electricity declined worldwide in 2025, with clean energy meeting all new demand growth and then some!

And Bloomberg NEF notes that energy storage (mostly batteries) has crossed the “100 GW annually” barrier, with 112 GW (112,000 MW) installed worldwide in 2025. (54% of those installations were in China). The solar-to-storage ratio of annual global additions in gigawatts fell from 56 in 2016 (56 times as much solar as storage being built) to just 6 in 2025, as solar kept growing rapidly and storage grew even more rapidly from a lower base. The “solar power during the day, battery-stored solar at night” model is fully mature and increasingly dominating global energy systems. Humanity’s electrification just keeps accelerating!

“It only took four years for energy storage to increase annual additions to more than 100 GW from 10 GW, whereas it took roughly eight and 15 years for solar and wind, respectively. This record underscores growing market momentum and increased industry maturity.”

— Isshu Kikuma, BloombergNEF.

Volts: Lower battery costs are allowing the grid to embrace increased demand at a much lower infrastructure cost. Hosting energy hungry data centers can actually lower our electric bills. Electrifying everything!
VPIRG:
VPIRG Logo
Jane,

Something remarkable just happened at the Vermont State House.

The Vermont legislature just passed H.727 — the bill to regulate any data centers proposed here — with an overwhelming, bipartisan supermajority: 26-3 in the Senate, and with just a smattering of “no’s” on a voice vote in the House. That kind of margin doesn’t happen by accident. It’s what happens when legislators hear loud and clear from constituents that Vermont’s environment, ratepayers, and climate commitments are worth protecting — even from one of the wealthiest industries in human history.

Now Governor Scott has a decision to make – can you join us in urging him to sign this critical legislation?

Can you tell Governor Scott to sign H.727 now?
YES, I’LL CONTACT THE GOVERNOR
I want to be honest about where things stand. The Scott Administration has already signaled opposition to this bill — specifically because it requires data centers to fund work that would reduce climate pollution and lower Vermonters’ energy bills.1

With the bill now heading to his desk, we can’t assume the Governor will do the right thing. We need him to hear from you.

What’s more, in the final days before the vote, Americans for Prosperity — the political organization funded by the Koch brothers’ network, which has spent decades fighting clean energy and consumer protections across the country — submitted a letter to Vermont legislators urging them to kill the bill.2

They called the energy transformation payment a “punitive climate surcharge” and an “industry-specific tax.” They complained that requiring data centers to meet Vermont’s longstanding “general good of the State” regulatory standard — the same standard applied to every major utility project in Vermont for decades — creates too much uncertainty for investors.

Read that again: dark-money group Americans for Prosperity is objecting to data centers being held to the same regulatory standard Vermont applies to wind and solar.

Here’s what H.727 actually does — and why we fought so hard for it:

Ratepayer protection that goes above and beyond Vermont’s already strong standards. The contract between a data center and its electric utility must ensure other ratepayers are insulated from all costs of data center deployment. We pushed hard for that language, and it’s in the bill.

A real climate investment, directed to Vermont communities. Data centers must make annual payments — calculated on rates already in Vermont law, entirely manageable for companies building multi-billion dollar facilities — to fund weatherization, heat pumps, EV charging infrastructure, and more, prioritized for the communities where they operate. This is what the Scott Administration called a bridge too far. We call it basic fairness.

An end to the fossil fuel generator playbook. Combustion-based backup generation is restricted to genuine emergencies only. What happened in Memphis — where xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company, ran dozens of gas generators at a single data center, producing the equivalent of 10% of Vermont’s entire state air pollution output — will not happen here.

On-site renewables and Virtual Power Plant participation. Data centers must maximize renewable generation on-site and participate in a program to benefit the grid’s stability, efficiency, and reliability. They benefit Vermont’s electric system, or they don’t get served by it.

Twenty-six senators voted yes. A strong majority of the House has followed.

Now the Governor needs to hear from his constituents that he too needs to side with Vermonters, not data center developers.

Can you take two minutes to contact Governor Scott and urge him to sign H.727?
YES, I’LL CONTACT THE GOVERNOR
This bill is the result of months of work by VPIRG members, allied organizations, and legislators who listened to what Vermonters actually want: an economy that works for everyone, a climate that’s livable, and a guarantee that regular ratepayers won’t be handed the bill for one of the richest industries on earth. Thank you for taking a moment to let Governor Scott know that’s the vision he should back too.

Thank you for everything you do.
Onward,

Ben Edgerly Walsh
Climate & Energy Program Director, VPIRG
P.S. The average new U.S. data center is projected to nearly double in size by 2028. Some individual facilities being planned today would consume more electricity than all of Vermont combined. Vermont’s legislature just acted. Now let’s make sure it sticks. The Governor’s office is at (802) 828-3333 or governor.vermont.gov/contact.
Recording of the PLAY EVERY TOWN concert in Tunbridge
Show Notes 5/14
Bird Note: Music inspired by birds
Bad news: The risk of the ocean currents shutting down by the end of this century just rose from 10% to 50%. See
Guest: Pianist David Feuerzeug, Music in every town for climate … Tunbridge church Sunday @ 3;00.
Good news: From Katharine Hayhoe first-ever conference dedicated to transitioning away from fossil fuels. 53 nations represented in April’26.
More good news: Canary Media on 2 geothermal approaches.
Geothermal company Fevro Energy well received on the stock exchange.
Show Notes 5/7
Bird note: The Value of Community
Today’s show focuses on 3+ Books on fixing climate change: 
  1. Drawdown The Most Comprehensive Plan by Paul Hawken
  2. What If We Get It Right?  By Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Hear are clips from Ayana’s Pod
  1. 23:17-27:53 (4:46)
  2. 12:26-13:44 (1:14

    Last minute Guest: Johanna Miller of the Natural Resources Council, The power of working together, and a legislative update. Call your senator and ask for support of H740 which build the information for the state to know what needs to be done on the climate front.

Susan Hodges of the Strafford Climate group says: My overall message is “do whatever you can” regarding the climate crisis — change habits, buy less, talk about the issues with others, challenge yourself (and others) to do more. ” and “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”. Over-consumption and greed contribute more than we think to the global climate crisis, in my opinion.
Didi Pershouse: “Nitrogen fertilizer causes as much CO2 emissions as all the shipping and air travel.” Here is how India got off its use.

 

Show Notes: 4/30
Bird Note: Robins nesting on solar arrays
Guest: Mark Zankel of Revision Energy, a solar company operation in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Subjects: fear of PV and wind destroying all farm and forest land, paths to more PV, how does this relate to your work with The Nature Conservancy? If  NH with similar secks as VT would go 100% solar it would take less than .2% of the land or if on farm land only less than 4% of the farmland.
Green Investment opportunity  Building solar projects around the world, The Latest Volts Pod
From Didi Pershouse: Free event Saturday, May 2nd, 10 PM EDT
 What 1.8 million farmers can teach us as we adapt to fertilizer shortages

Methane the low hanging fruit: 

Show Notes 4/23
Bird Note: Planting oaks
 State of climate:
Global warming is coming at us ever faster.  El Nino is likely going to be a super El Nino driving extreme events.
From Yeale350 Overshoot: The world is hitting point of no return on climate.
AMOC more likely getting much weaker: The Guardian
Some positives: 
Coverage from the VLGS Symposium last Saturday: Henry and Todd
Points Made:
Vision the future
directly regulate emissions
New president

US judge halts Trump admin’s blockade on new wind and solar projects 

From Volts: Ember puts out its Global generation report Renewables have won out in 2025
Notably, global fossil generation fell in 2025 
Solar and batteries just keep on booming.
Wind and solar combined met 99% of demand growth around the world.
a small decline in fossil generation overall — a 0.2% drop.
27% was considered the grid limit for solar alone but with batteries Chile has taken it to 50%. Batteries make solar power on demand.
Actions: From Solar Fest

Make Some Noise!

Before Friday May 1st we all should join with REV and tell the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) to REJECT the State DPS plan to postpone the biennial rate update for solar panel owners. In the face of increasing electric rates, this unprecedented move would mean a loss of hundreds or thousands of dollars for every solar household and a big profit boost for utilities.

Let your voice be heard – send your comments to the PUC by Friday, May 1st either online (PUC Case Number 26-0291-INV) or via email to puc.clerk@vermont.gov!

Show Notes 4/16
Guest: Raluca Velcu. Upcoming symposium
The Environmental Justice Law Society, Energy Law Society, Environmental Law Society, Food and Agriculture Law Society, and Animal Law Society at Vermont Law and Graduate School proudly present the Intersectionality in Environmental Law Symposium.
Bird Note: https://www.birdnote.org/podcasts/birdnote-daily/hummingbird-feeder-homebrew
Lots of birds are here. Hummers by early March
Bill Mckibben from latest newsletter

It reads in part: Every once in a while I have to snap out of the hypnotic grip of the bizarre news cycle and remind myself—and you—that there’s something even more important underway than the obvious mental and moral decline of the president: the relentless rise in the temperature of the planet. So here’s my latest occasional update from the physical world, and I fear the news is not good.

Let’s begin with the immediate past, and stay close to home, because the U.S. has been the center of some of the most extreme meteorological action on planet earth recently. Consider our winter: though it was chilly in the Northeast, if you averaged the temperature across the lower 48 it was the second-hottest winter on record. Thats because nine states had their hottest winter ever and five their second-hottest. As Andrea Thompson pointed out in Scientific American, “nowhere in the U.S. had a record cold winter this year. Nowhere even came close.”

That winter, by the way, was December, January, and February—what we call “meteorological winter” because it coincides with the coldest quarter of the year. It was outrageously hot and very dry, with severely shrunken snowpacks across the mountains of the West, which made Westerners nervous about the chances for wildfire as the summer wore on.

And then came March.

March was the single craziest month in U.S. weather history. Here’s how Seth Borenstein put it in the lede of his account for the Associated Press

March’s persistent unseasonable heat was so intense that the continental United States registered its most abnormally hot month in 132 years of records, according to federal weather data.

The federal government is still collecting weather data (though far less than it used to) and so we know the following remarkable fact according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

The average maximum temperature for March was especially high at 11.4 F (6.3 C) above the 20th century average and was almost a degree warmer than the average daytime high for April.

As Bob Henson points out in the Yale-based blog Eye of the Storm,

In 35 of the 48 contiguous states, the statewide average reading was among the top-ten warmest for any March. Not a single contiguous state was cooler than average.

Henson also points out that a lack of rainfall meant it’s so far been the driest year in American history

The nationally averaged precipitation total for 2026 to date is an ominous one: a mere 4.79 inches. That’s the lowest value on record for any January-to-March interval, including such notoriously dry periods as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The previous record low was 5.27 inches, set in Jan.-Mar. 1910.

As Henson’s colleague Jeff Masters succinctly told the AP:

Climate change is kicking our butts

And I fear it’s barely begun the beating. Because over the last two weeks, even as the world has fixed its gaze on the Middle East, meteorologists have been staring in some awe and terror at what appears to be a rapidly building El Niño. I’ve been telling you this is on the way for some months, but it’s coming into ever-clearer focus. NOAA again, in its April forecast, put the odds of a El Niño beginning this summer at better than sixty percent. More to the point, the wide array of computer models around the planet are beginning to predict a so-called “super El Niño,” when temperatures in the critical region of the Pacific shoot up far far far higher than in the past. Henson and Masters again:

For October, roughly half of the ECMWF ensemble is calling for sea surface temperatures in the main El Niño region (Niño3.4) to exceed 2.5 degrees Celsius above the seasonal average. Such values would correspond to what’s loosely referred to as a “super El Niño.” Though there’s no official definition for a “super” event, the term is often attached to El Niño when its peak anomalies reach at least +2.0°C. Since 1950, the only El Niño events that have hit this threshold for at least one three-month interval were in 1972–73, 1982–83, 1997–98, 2015–16, and 2023–24. Only one of those events, in 2015–16, pushed all the way past +2.5°C.

Here’s a useful graph of the various estimates from the computer modelling, courtesy of Zeke Hausfather

Basically it reads: a world we haven’t seen before. Because remember, El Niño comes on top of the steadily rising temperature of the earth. If these forecasts bear out, then possibly 2026 and certainly 2027 will be the hottest years ever recorded on this earth. As the atmospheric scientist Paul Roundy put it, there’s a “real potential for the strongest El Niño event in 140 years.” We don’t know, of course, exactly how this will manifest, but as Gabrielle Cannon wrote yesterday in the Guardian

A super El Niño that occurred in 2015 brought severe drought in Ethiopia, water supply shortages in Puerto Rico, and smashed records after unleashing a vicious hurricane season in the central North Pacific, according to an analysis by US federal scientists.

The cycle tends to create drought and heat across Australia, around southern and central Africa, in India and in parts of South America, including in the Amazon rainforest. Heavy precipitation, meanwhile, could hit the southern tier of the US, parts of the Middle East, and south-central Asia.

I think it’s safe to say that we can expect more weather chaos than we’ve ever seen before (the good folks at Covering Climate Now put together a useful briefing for reporters last week). Here’s my prediction, since my job is to figure out how the physical and political worlds intersect:

The havoc unleashed by a super El Niño will coincide with the havoc unleashed by Trump in the Gulf to produce a perfect storm of support for rapid action on getting off fossil fuels. Our brief vacation from thinking about climate change as a crucial fact of life on this planet will be over; the conjoined fears of the next months will combine to put us in a very new place politically.

My main fear is that this useful moment is coming very late in the game.

So what are the biggest levers:
David Roberts in his latest pod says urbanism may be the biggest.
Play 0-8:41
The EV solution alone: 28:18-29:17
Affordability as a mover: 58:51-1:101:39
Act 181 does some of this in downtown centers but it is faltering in its top down approach.
As time permits: Maybe next week…
Reality is stranger than fiction. Black holes and neutron stars from a recent https://astronomyontap.org/news/
Show Notes 4/9
Bird note: Robins and solar arrays
Guest: Suzanna Long of Luna Bleu farm. We will explore the all advantages of locally grown food, the need for land bases young farmers can get started on.
Article: Capitalism and natural food production
Why human observation from Artemus II adds value, Also the formation of the moon and why the near and far side are so different.
Consider getting behind a candidate for VT Governor:
Phil Scott  Has not yet said if running but he usually does not announce early.
Amanda Janoo website
Article VTDigger
Aly Richards website
VTDigger article
The post Green Zine Notes and Links first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet Mort Wasserman, Programmer https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-mort-wasserman-programmer/ Mon, 10 Mar 2025 13:36:06 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6710 How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio? The idea was suggested to me by my sister-in-law, who lives in SoRo, knows of my interest in music, and likes WFVR LP. What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it? I share programming duties for the weekly Thursday…

The post Meet Mort Wasserman, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio?

The idea was suggested to me by my sister-in-law, who lives in SoRo, knows of my interest in music, and likes WFVR LP.

What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it?

I share programming duties for the weekly Thursday evening jazz show, 4th Branch Jazz. Having grown up and spent my adulthood listening to music on the radio, it’s a thrill to be picking tunes for others to appreciate, have the chance to explain a bit about the music, and learn more in the process.

How has being part of RCR impacted you or your connection to the community?

I had lived elsewhere in Vermont for decades, but programming a show on WFVR LP has helped me feel like a part of the community. It’s exciting to hear oneself on a Monday afternoon rebroadcast while shopping at the SoRo Co-op. 

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from your time on air?

Having never DJ’d a radio show before and doing so only twice a month, it’s taken months of shows to stop pushing the wrong buttons while on the air. I’m still working up to taking live calls from listeners.

If you could describe RCR in three words, what would they be?

Oasis of sanity
The post Meet Mort Wasserman, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet Todd Tyson, Station Manager https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-todd-tyson/ https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-todd-tyson/#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2025 21:17:23 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6695   Todd is the host of The Elephants Dream, Thursdays 7-10am; the co-host of the Blues Train Tuesdays 5-7pm, and co-host of Green Zine, Thursdays 11am-12pm.   What inspired you to start Royalton Community Radio 12 years ago? My attendance at the 2005 Grassroots Radio Conference was a Sonic spark. I met several community radio…

The post Meet Todd Tyson, Station Manager first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

 

Todd is the host of The Elephants Dream, Thursdays 7-10am; the co-host of the Blues Train Tuesdays 5-7pm, and co-host of Green Zine, Thursdays 11am-12pm.

 

What inspired you to start Royalton Community Radio 12 years ago?

My attendance at the 2005 Grassroots Radio Conference was a Sonic spark. I met several community radio folks including Pete Tridish from the Prometheus Radio Project who shared ear opening intel about the status of low power FM stations that served their local communities. Keynote speakers at this GRC were Pete Seeger and political activist Granny D.

 

What has surprised you most about how the station has grown?

I am continually impressed by the passion, knowledge and dedication that our all volunteer staff have for Free VT Radio and our surrounding communities.

 

What’s your vision for the future of RCR?

On the programming side…the addition of more local community members hosting both music and public affairs programs. We have room! On the Tech side…two computer savvy volunteers willing to learn about our automation/scheduling software systems.

Finally, we are hoping to relocate our broadcast antenna to provide a wider FM coverage footprint for our 96.5 listeners.

 

After 12 years, what keeps you motivated and excited about the station?

Our all volunteer station’s ongoing mission/ability to provide unique, eclectic and entertaining programming to our immediate community and beyond through the dedication of our collective friends and neighbors. Indeed…Radio of the people, by the people and for the people!

 

The post Meet Todd Tyson, Station Manager first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-todd-tyson/feed/ 1 Meet Shay Berry, Programmer https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-shay-berry/ Sun, 09 Mar 2025 21:14:55 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6692   Shay is the host of The Rabbit Hole which airs Wednesday nights from 8-9pm.   How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio? My co-worker saw an “ad” in the Sharon ListServ and said, “You should do this!” I met with Todd, the Station and Program Manager and I didn’t have a name…

The post Meet Shay Berry, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

 

Shay is the host of The Rabbit Hole which airs Wednesday nights from 8-9pm.

 

How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio?

My co-worker saw an “ad” in the Sharon ListServ and said, “You should do this!” I met with Todd, the Station and Program Manager and I didn’t have a name for my show. Todd asked, “what kind of music would you play?” I said, “I tend to go down Rabbit Holes.” Todd replied, “There’s the name of your show, The Rabbit Hole!”

 

What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it?

I am the secretary of the WFVR Board and host a show on Wednesday nights from 8 to 9 p.m. called The Rabbit Hole. As part of my role as the secretary, I update the Events and Music Calendars on the website.

 

How has being part of RCR impacted you or your connection to the community?

I enjoy keeping the community informed on local music and sharing the latest tunes that I encounter in the Rabbit Hole.

 

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from your time on air?

It’s all fun. My favorite show where I had a live guest has to be when I had Art Stacy (Sharon) and Tom “Cool” Yolton (Kentucky) from the band Mercy Flight who performed before Steel Mill (Bruce Springsteen) in the infamous concert in 1970 on the Parking Deck at 7th And Marshall Street in Richmond, VA. Legend has it, lead singer Robbin Thompson was poached by Springsteen after the show to join his band grounding the trajectory of Mercy Flight!

 

If you could describe RCR in three words, what would they be?

Tunes, Team, True

 

The post Meet Shay Berry, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet Thom Healy, Programmer https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-thom-healy/ Sun, 09 Mar 2025 21:13:28 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6688   Thom is the host of The Concert Music Safari which airs Thursdays from 2-4pm.   How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio? Someone placed an announcement in the area listserv, looking for someone with classical or jazz knowledge   What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most…

The post Meet Thom Healy, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

 

Thom is the host of The Concert Music Safari which airs Thursdays from 2-4pm.

 

How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio?

Someone placed an announcement in the area listserv, looking for someone with classical or jazz knowledge

 

What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it?

Being a volunteer programmer I can challenge myself to be more creative and exploratory within a 700-years-long history of the classical genre.

 

How has being part of RCR impacted you or your connection to the community?

I very much like feeling part of the RCR family, knowing how committed the surrounding area and its residents are to our mission.

 

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from your time on air?

Meeting the cool girl whose show airs after mine. That’s been pretty fun.

 

If you could describe RCR in three words, what would they be?

Passion. Progressive. Positively.

 

The post Meet Thom Healy, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet Ralph Molinario, Programmer https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-ralph-molinario-programmer/ Sun, 09 Mar 2025 20:39:15 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6686   Ralph is the host of Backroads, Bluegrass, and Beyond which airs Wednesdays from 1-3pm.   How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio? My first experience with RCR was in 2014 when my friend Lew Hartman and I had a program on Saturday afternoons that blended Southern Rock and New England based…

The post Meet Ralph Molinario, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

 

Ralph is the host of Backroads, Bluegrass, and Beyond which airs Wednesdays from 1-3pm.

 

How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio?

My first experience with RCR was in 2014 when my friend Lew Hartman and I had a program on Saturday afternoons that blended Southern Rock and New England based bands.Lew was a virtual encyclopedia of the music of the South, and we explored how the music transcended borders! After Lew’s passing in March of 2015 I ended my involvement with the station until Todd Tyson contacted me to see if I wanted to try my hand at doing a 2 hour weekly Bluegrass program. We did a show together for the first time in January of 2020, and I’ve been hosting Backroads Bluegrass & Beyond ever since!

 

What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it?

I’m Vice-President of the RCR Board of Directors and programmer for Backroads Bluegrass & Beyond Live on Wednesdays from 1 – 3 PM with a rebroadcast Sundays from 7 to 9 PM. I truly enjoy bringing Bluegrass to the many who already love it, to the uninitiated in the genre. I’ve learned so much in the last 5 years, I guess that’s what I love about it!

 

How has being part of RCR impacted you or your connection to the community?

RCR has given me many opportunities to connect with the community through the many functions the station is involved with like the Sheep & Wool festival, the Jennybrook Bluegrass Festival and others where our presence is felt by the community.

 

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from your time on air?

It’s always fun while on air, the inevitable goof-ups on live radio can be humorous, and live radio can be a challenge to maintain perfection in broadcasting! But I do my best to be as professional as possible!

 

If you could describe RCR in three words, what would they be?

Family, Friends and Music!!

 

The post Meet Ralph Molinario, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet Jim Rooney, Legend https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-jim-rooney/ Sun, 09 Mar 2025 20:37:36 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6682   Jim is the host of In It For The Long Run which airs Monday nights from 8-9pm.   JIM ROONEY ‘LONG RUN’ STUDIO Friends, I was recently taken completely by surprise when I was informed that the Board of Royalton Community Radio was honoring me by naming their broadcast studio the JIM ROONEY ‘LONG…

The post Meet Jim Rooney, Legend first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

 

Jim is the host of In It For The Long Run which airs Monday nights from 8-9pm.

 

JIM ROONEY ‘LONG RUN’ STUDIO

Friends, I was recently taken completely by surprise when I was informed that the Board of Royalton Community Radio was honoring me by naming their broadcast studio the JIM ROONEY ‘LONG RUN’ STUDIO. Not since Brocklebank Craft Brewing named ROONEY’S STOUT after me have I been so honored and so deeply moved. Here’s the back story. 

About 10 years ago I ran into Royalton Radio’s general manager Todd Tyson at some musical event. He asked me if was aware of the station (I must admit I was not) and after a bit he asked me if I’d be interested in finding out more and if I might do a radio show built loosely around my life in music, performing, producing records, publishing songs and so on. My only radio experience was back when I was a student at Amherst College on WAMF where I did a show based on American music. (Americana hadn’t been invented yet!). Without too much hesitation I said, “Yes.” I had written a song “In It For The Long Run,” which was also the title of my memoir, so it was a no-brainer to call my program that.

As he does with every programmer, Todd invited me to come to Board meetings. I did, which gave me a chance to meet fellow programmers like Bill Murphy, Bob DiBartolo, Rebecca Beguin. After listening to their programs I was very impressed at the range and depth of the music being offered. I was being drawn into a wonderful musical community which is something I had been missing since relocating to Vermont after spending many years in Nashville.

In time I became a member of the Board. I had had previous experience as a member of the Newport Folk Foundation Board and the Folk Alliance Board. I felt that I could bring some of that experience to bear at Royalton Radio. I also had some experience keeping track of finances so I became the Treasurer for a few years, during which time I saw the station gradually increase its membership and support from community businesses, individuals and other non-profit organizations.

In addition to the strictly radio side I was also very happy to join in efforts to support many events taking place in our listening area such as The Sheep and Wool Festival, Jennybrook Bluegrass Festival, The Ranger bike event, our own Pedal, Power to the People bike event, Royalton Old Home Days, to name a few. During the course of the station’s 12 years I have seen it become an integral part of the community, always reaching out to inform people of events in the area and making people aware of needs in the community. 

As well as being an important part of the community here, Royalton Radio has an on-line community which reaches into many states and several countries.(royaltonradio.org) We all regularly hear from them. It serves to remind me of how much people value the volunteer and personal aspect of what we do and how much they appreciate how each programmer brings their passion for music forward. I firmly believe that music is a healing and positive force in our lives that is needed now more than ever. It makes me proud to be a member of Royalton Community Radio, and prouder still to have been so honored. 

 

The post Meet Jim Rooney, Legend first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet Gene Cassidy, Programmer https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-gene-cassidy/ Sun, 09 Mar 2025 20:24:32 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6679 Gene is the host of All Vermont Music which airs Tuesdays from 7-10am and cohost of WordStream which airs Tuesdays 10-11am.   How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio? Thom Healy, who does Concert Music Safari got me involved with RCR. I was thrilled by his show and he said, “Y’know, you…

The post Meet Gene Cassidy, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

Gene is the host of All Vermont Music which airs Tuesdays from 7-10am and

cohost of WordStream which airs Tuesdays 10-11am.

 

How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio?

Thom Healy, who does Concert Music Safari got me involved with RCR. I was thrilled by his show and he said, “Y’know, you could do one if you want.”

 

What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it?

My role is host and right now I most love getting better (I hope) at using the tools RCR provides; right now, WordStream! and as I get more involved, meeting and getting to know the other programmers!

 

How has being part of RCR impacted you or your connection to the community?

It gives me reason to live. Hey! I work in a grocery store. Volunteering on the radio is muuuch more fun and fulfilling. I meet (or reacquaint myself with) lots of people I wouldn’t otherwise know.

 

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from your time on air?

I don’t know if ‘fun’ is the word but I put in my earbuds once and my laptop bluetooth (as well as the phone I was trying to connect to) was on and this ungodly electronic screech went out over the air and I thought, ‘Won’t do that again.’

 

If you could describe RCR in three words, what would they be?

Short Sharp Shocked. (That was the first thing that came to mind and I promised myself I’d go with it.)

 

The post Meet Gene Cassidy, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet David Gabriel, Programmer https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-david-gabriel/ Sun, 09 Mar 2025 20:18:19 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6675 David is the host of Sonic Antidote which airs Wednesdays from 10-11am.   How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio? Driving through the WR Watershed three years ago, I happened upon 96.5 and knew I wanted to be part of the community. The diversity reminded me of college radio – the KNAC,…

The post Meet David Gabriel, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

David is the host of Sonic Antidote which airs Wednesdays from 10-11am.

 

How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio?

Driving through the WR Watershed three years ago, I happened upon 96.5 and knew I wanted to be part of the community. The diversity reminded me of college radio – the KNAC, KDVS and KALX of my youth.

 

What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it?

I am programmer of Sonic Antidote and do the occasional remote event. It’s great overlapping with Carl and Ralph at the studio. Doing events and covering others’ shows I get to learn about other good humans who make up WFVR.

 

How has being part of RCR impacted you or your connection to the community?

It’s been a fun ride this first year, and a nice bridge between my Tunbridge neighbors, Royalton peeps, and old friends. Our programmers all bring impressive knowledge of musical histories and genres.

 

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from your time on air?

I asked the lads, Noah and Aidan, to share tracks from their respective years at Berkeley H.S. – and Aid joined me in the studio. (He promised not to play any Fetty Wap.) I actually enjoy listening to (most of) their music.. and am glad they’ve learned to play instruments too.

 

If you could describe RCR in three words, what would they be?

Really. Cool. Radio.

 

The post Meet David Gabriel, Programmer first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]> Meet Morgan Haynes, Programmer & Marketing https://www.royaltonradio.org/meet-morgan-haynes/ Sun, 09 Mar 2025 20:00:47 +0000 https://www.royaltonradio.org/?p=6667 Morgan (AKA DJ Momcore) is the host of My So Called Radio Show which airs Thursdays 4-5pm.   How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio? I saw an ad in the White River Valley Herald that the station was looking for help with their social media. Being new to SoRo, I was…

The post Meet Morgan Haynes, Programmer & Marketing first appeared on Royalton Community Radio.]]>

Morgan (AKA DJ Momcore) is the host of My So Called Radio Show which airs Thursdays 4-5pm.

 

How did you first get involved with Royalton Community Radio?

I saw an ad in the White River Valley Herald that the station was looking for help with their social media. Being new to SoRo, I was looking to get involved in the community and thought this was the perfect opportunity. Having a deep love for music and an affinity marketing, not only do I manage the station’s socials but also create all of their graphics for print and digital.

 

What’s your role at the station, and what do you love most about it?

After doing the marketing for a couple of years, I decided I was ready to have my own show and share all the mixes I make myself anyway. I am also a member of the board.

 

How has being part of RCR impacted you or your connection to the community?

This station is so magical. All of us programmers are so different from each other but we have the common unifying element of our passion for music, which makes us family. Being involved with the station has also gotten me out in the community more by volunteering at various events and attending concerts with fellow DJs.

 

Any fun behind-the-scenes stories from your time on air?

Thom Healy and I subbed for Duffy one week during Hannah Handy and Me and it was my first time cohosting a two hour show. We had an incredible time and really created this spark of inspiration and magic that still makes me smile.

 

If you could describe RCR in three words, what would they be?

Family. Magic. Connection.

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan recently penned an ode to Royalton Community Radio for the Upper Valley Newsletter, Daybreak:

Dear Daybreak

 

When I walk into the Royalton Community Radio studio, it feels like stepping into the beating heart of Vermont. Perched high atop Magic Mountain (Daycare) in South Royalton, the station isn’t flashy. A patchwork of equipment, shelves cluttered with CDs and vinyl, with a few signs reminding the programmers about the station’s call letters: WFVR-LP South Royalton. Everything is held together by the hands of volunteers who believe in non-commercial, community produced radio.

From the booth I can see out over the Vermont Law & Graduate School parking lot to the rolling hills that stretch beyond the White River. The snow from last night’s storm clings to the trees, softening the edges of the world. Vermont winters are unforgiving, but there’s a quiet solidarity in them, much like this station. We hold each other up, in the cold, on the airwaves, spinning stories and songs for the people scattered across these mountains and even across the country.

The station’s DJs come and go at all hours, some with stacks of vinyl tucked under their arms, others arrive with nothing but a playlist in their head and anecdotes to share. Whether it’s rock, blues, jazz, bluegrass, americana, classical, world music, etc, each DJ brings something different to the airwaves, the common thread being their love for this place and the people who listen.

Among them is Jim Rooney—legendary producer, Grammy winner, and recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Americana Music Association. He could be anywhere in the world, yet he’s here, in this modest little studio, sharing songs and memories on his weekly program, “In It for the Long Run”.

It’s the kind of magic that only happens in a place like Vermont, where fame and legacy don’t separate you from your neighbors—they just add to the story. Vermont winters are long, but here in the Royalton Community Radio studio, we hold each other up, spinning stories that remind us we’re all part of the same song.

 

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